When Emma heard her fatherโs calm question, she soughed, and took a look around, wondering the best lie to gve her old man, so that he could let her in first. But couldnโt he have waited till she got inside? She wondered, aware of how sleepy she was, how hungry she was, and how tired she was. She was also aware of the neigbour depositing June inside his car, probaby to take her tto the hospital. Good for them. She surmised, knowing from her fatherโs aloof stance that he knew who June was and what she had done-reason why he wasnโt berating her. Now to his questionโฆ โWhy did you leave England, Emma? I am sure that your school is still in session. If there was any break at all, the chancellor would have informed me. But there was none. Which means you are here by your own accord.โ Mr Jason stated, folding his arms across his chest. He watched his so troublesome daughter struggle with her words, so much so that it would have been funny if not for the seriousness of the situation. โDa
โThere is nothing here, except magic relics. A typical witchโs house.โ Anthony stated, looking around the house, still searching for clues. They had just ransacked the house, and they had found nothing. Just magic items and what nots. โShe is not here, either.โ He added, taking a seat on the couch, beside Lucille, who of course was his cousin. During the long meeting, both at the hall and the dining room, he had finally understood why he had felt some kind of kinship to Emma and then Freya. They were actually related to some extent, by blood. Their magic was proof of that. โWell, canโt we find where she is, you know, with something that belongs to her? I thought that magic can make that possible, just as I had watched in movies. Or is it just for the movie's sake? Is it not real? Is that asking for much?โ Lucille inquired, looking between Freya and her mother. Freya smiled at first. โGood idea, Lucille. Anthony, you will be the best person to get an item of Esther. From the inform
โCome in at your own risk.โ Freya scoffed, unable to help herself, when she heard what the new girl said as she stepped into the sitting room. Come in at your own risk? If only the girl knew what she was, she would be holding her tongue. But that was by the way. They were here for something important. โYou never told us your name, now that I think of it..โ She muttered, as she and the others stepped into the large empty sitting room. โMy name is Akila. Follow me, the rest are this way.โ The girl gestured to a passageway which looked wide enough like the one at the pack house. They followed her through the snake-like passageway till they burst out in a smaller compound, with a raffia shade at the far end. From the entrance, the group could see Esther and her clique, talking about something wildly, although Esther for the most part looked in between, at odds, like her mind was stretched between two dimensions; her mind wasnโt a hundred percent involved in what her friends were tal
At Estherโs new residence:Freya knew the guy. She hadnโt seen him before, hadnโt spoken with him before, but she knew him. She knew him from the vision she had seen when she had touched Estherโs scarf. She also knew him from Aidenโs memory, one of the many he had shared with her. She knew him from the one that had spoken of the bullying of Emma at the cafรฉ. He was the one that Aiden had thought quiet, but not entirely innocent, even though he looked like it. Aiden had read off an unsettling energy from him, and Freya was beginning to see that. She was beginning to see that the boy wasnโt what he seemed to be. She wondered what exactly he was. A shifter like the others? She wasnโt sure, but she wasnโt about to cower in fear. No. Her people thought her better. She would fight this out. She would be leaving here with Esther, and nothing can stop her, not at this point. She watched as Esther, and the rest of the clique gave the boy a look down-they didnโt rate him. Freya thought tha
At Estherโs new residence:As Freya and Lekan danced around each other, waiting for who would take the first step, Freya was analyzing her opponent. She still couldn't understand his scent, she was just sure that it was unsettling, and that it repulsed her. Freya also knew that she wouldnโt move, until Lekan made a move-until he shifted to whatever he was. Yes, she was sure that he was a good shifter, much better than he had relayed to his friends. Yet, to what? What does he shift into? โArenโt you going to make a move, mage? What's stopping you? Shouldn't you be chanting some gibberish to put me in some kind of cage or something? That would shorten this dance,wouldn't it?โ Lekan taunted, his words grating on the nerves of the watchers, yet Freya remained unruffled. She didnโt win her fight against those three beasts by being easily ruffled. She stopped prancing though. She stood still, and folded her arms across her chest, causing Anthony to wonder what she was doing? He would ha
At Estherโs new residence:โCome on! Give me your best shot, mage!โ The words were all scrambled coming from the vampirish Lekan, and Freya clucked her teeth in disgust. She hated fighting vampires. Without much ado, she released a bout of freezing air, and darts of ice to the vampire that is Lekan, knowing that these species hated extreme temperatures; extreme heat, extreme cold. She watched, more of analyzing, than jubilating, when Leekan gnashed his leftover blackened teeth which were crawling with maggots. He really took up the whole features; a complete shift. Freya noted it somewhere in her mind to let Aiden and the others know. She wondered where the maggots would go when he shifted back to his normal self. Do they stay in his belly? She shuddered at the insane thought, but she wouldnโt put anything past science and magic. Obviously, there was the work of a mage in this, but she didnโt think that it was Leonarya. Yes, her false mother was a black magician, but there were lev
This is it. Curtis muttered to himself as he came to stand before the gate that belonged to his pack; the gate that separated them from the other parts of civilization. When he became Alpha, since his sister would probably turn down the offer, he would tear down the gate. Actually, he was sure that she would. Of course. How could he forget? Leo was the rightful heir to the Alpha throne of the White Sted pack, that means his sister would be a Luna. Yet that depends on Leo agreeing to take the ruling reins. However, there is also the fact that they didn't know where he had gone-if he had returned to his former pack. Well, time will tell. Curtis sighed, taking in the strength of the black huge gate. If he really becomes the alpha of Winders pack, first thing he will surely do was to dismantle the gate, and open the area to humans, so that they could do their developing magic. Although, of course, like his uncleโs pack, there would be boundaries, and limits, forests reserved for the
Curtis restricted and reformed the outburst of his emotions to that which would look like he wasnโt working with the Blue Moonโs pack. He allowed his face to contort in slight fury and then curiosity, in just the right amounts that would propel his father to explain himself, and not doubt that he was still on the latter side. โI know. I know that you are angry. But I had my reasons. The alliance is just for the good of the pack.โ Just like you had when you had caused our separation from Uncle Peter? Then, Curtis had been actually happy for the separation, happy to be away from his perfect cousin. Although he had wished for less bloodshed, he had aligned with his fatherโs statement then; that peace usually came after a war. And for some years he had been living with that delusion until now. Until he discovered that his father was just a power hungry ruler. Yet he piqued his right eyebrow, in a way that suggested that he was ready to listen. He was actually curious to see what his
Emmaโs eyes were as active as anything active as she watched the elders slowly walk into the hall reserved for judging cases, like Annabelโs. As she watched them, her feet kept dancing on the floor in a funny unsteady motion; she was unsteady. One, one. Then two, two. Then one two. Once, Amelia had looked at her, with a piqued eyebrow. โWhat is that?โ Her eyes seemed to ask, but Emma had given no answer. What is it? It should be what are they?! When they were hurrying over to the hall, after convincing the guards that they would be around for the trial too, her sister had whispered that the cabin, her parentโs cabin, had been burnt by the master, Slediv. It had brought Emma up short, making her stagger on her feet for two reasons. That Slediv had really traced them, even without her then, and that the cabin was burnt; the loss it meant for her parents. Would they regret helping her then? Prescott didnโt think so. But Emma was still worried about it, just like her mind had tried
One week later:Emma had run to the clinic, immediately Adah had burst into her apartment with the news that Annabel and Amelia were awake. Over the couple of days in class, they had bonded over gossip, and training, seeing as the latter was the only one that had been sincerely interested in her. Emma had run with Prescott in her hands, and Adah right behind her. And when she arrived at the room she had frequented daily with prayers, and saw her sister and her friend chatting tiredly, she let out a scream of happiness and hurried over to them. โAmelia! Annabel!โ She called gaily, garnering the attention of the two females sitting cross-legged on the same bed. Before they could let out a shout or smile of their own, Emmaโs hands were already around them. โOh my goodness, I am so happy for both of youโฆโ she paused. โbut give me a heartache again, and I will skin you both alive..โ Annabel and Amelia divulged bouts of laughter, with the nurses. Prescott and Adah werenโt left behind,
Caden sighed in relief at his mateโs words, wanting to believe at all costs that the years he had spent with her, that the love they had shared, hadnโt been in vain. He didnโt know what he would have done otherwise. Cry, brood? Neither was acceptable in these times. And so, he wasnโt moved when his son piqued an eyebrow at his mateโs words, or when his daughterโs lips turned upโin disgust or curiosity, he wasnโt sure. But he didnโt care. He just hung on to the thread that his mate was spinning with. โI didnโt cheat on my mate, Iโm sure he would have found out if I had done so, considering the mate bond and all thatโฆโ There was a pause, where relief sunk its foothold the more in Caden and his children. โSo, if thatโs what you are thinking, Cadenโฆ if thatโs what you all are thinking, cut it out. I was surprised too when Claire had met me with the news at first, and I didnโt tell you, Caden, because I wasnโt sure how to explain the phenomena to you. I knew you held the lineage of you
Chyra didnโt know what Clem was talking aboutโthe end of the world, and all thatโbut she knew that she was to blame for Claire rejecting her mate considering what she had soaked into her daughterโs mind about the alphaโs family, about how the Luna seat was her birthright. She also knew that she shouldnโt be working with Arnold. But she was too proud to concede to that, to concede to anyone, and so she shrugged her shoulders to Clemโs question. In the next second, she saw why that had been a wrong play on her part. When she saw Clem fume in anger, when she saw Claire glare at her stinkingly, when she saw her mate watch her like she was foolish, she knew that she had made a mistake. It would have been best if she had kept quiet, than giving off that nonchalant attitude. But her pride held her back from apologizing. Why should she apologize for being a mother caring to give her daughter the best? โMother, are you so daft thatโฆโ Clem was saying when his father shouted him down. Caden
At this point, Clem didnโt know what to think about his sister, Claire. He had thought that their parents had been her motivator to reject Curtis, to follow Curtis up and down, to join the meetings that prince Nathan held with the others, but from the thick astounded silence that dwelled in the room, it could be safe to say that his sister had been acting on her own, without any external influence. He didnโt know what to think of that. He looked at his mother; she looked more shocked out of her shoes and mind than his father, quite expected since the mother and daughter duo were quite close, since his sister had no mind of hers, except put into place by his mother. As much as he was not happy with his twin, he was happy that for once his mother had no part to play in her recent escapades. โWhat do you meanโฆClaire?โ Caden asked, pushing himself ahead, his elbow resting on his knees. โWhat do you mean when you say that Curtis is your mate? When did that happen? When did you find out?
What Claire saw first when she stepped into her fatherโs room was her parents sitting in the living room, with Clem, their backs hunched, the air filled with pregnant silence, waiting. They were waiting for her. She knew it from the moment she had dropped a note in Clemโs mind that she was on her way home. That he hadnโt bothered with a response, should have been enough to let her know that her twin was still angry with her. But she had held out hope, until she had reached the borders of the pack and he hadnโt been waiting for her. This was very different from the times they had quarrels. She knew, however, that this quarrel was different. She had denied her mate, because of the throne; had gone ahead to push Emma away from the pack; and when Derek still hadnโt chosen her, she had returned to Curtis because he was an Alpha. Would she have returned to him if he wasnโt that? She didnโt know. That was the truth. She didnโt know. She might have gone back to Curtis, even if he wasnโt a
At Wind Winders Pack.โDad, what is this? What was Zoe doing in my room so early in the morning?โ Curtis questioned, a second after he rushed into the dining room where his parents were having breakfast. He had slept in obviously, but he didnโt care. Yesterdayโs training had been rigorous after all. He darted his eyes between his mother and father; his motherโs widened eyes told him that she had no idea what he was talking about; quite expected since this turn of event hadnโt been part of their plans. Hence, he trained his eyes on his father; the old man just continued eating his breakfast like he hadnโt spoken. Curtis thought of repeating himself, but thought better of it. He walked up to his father, and took away his plate of food; an act that he wouldnโt have been able to try before; an act that might have spelt his death; but considering his fatherโs few options of allies, he knew that he had a chance to live. And so, when his father glared at him heatedly, he didnโt quake in hi
โHeyโฆhow are you feeling?โ Emma whispered, touching Prescottโs head softly, as she watched him open his eyes for the second time. The first time, she had screamed and had called for the nurse in charge of his treatment, not minding that Adah was with her. Nothing could have dampened her joy. She had just checked on Annabel and Amelia, who although their vitals were stable, was still asleep, yet out of coma. According to the chief nurse, a week was enough for them to wake up now. Then she had checked on Prescott, and only touching him with fondness had elicited the response of his eyes opening. Emma had been overjoyed. โPrescott, can you hear me?โ She asked softly, dragging a seat to herself, whilst Adah watched on, not understanding the communication method of the squirrel and Emma. Like the people in the community, she had never seen a talking animal, or rather an animal that communicates as Emma had painted Prescott to be. Her friend who was in the upper echelons of the community
No professor spoke to her, and Emma couldnโt help but wonder why. Had Prince Shiloh ask them to avoid her? Or had professor Brooksโ defeat scared them away from her? Well, if that was the matter, then she believed it was for the greater good. She had no interest in making affiliations after all, so long as they taught her what she wanted to know, and treated her fairly. โSo, do you think you can cope?โ She heard Adah ask, and turned aside to see her new seat mate. The mischievous glint in the latterโs eyes made her smile, howbeit small. โI believe I can.โ She answered, before getting on her feet. She took her bag which Gira had provided that morning and slung the straps across her shoulder. It was time to go home, or rather check on her friends. Classes were done for the day. โWhere are you going?โ Adah asked her, getting to her feet. As they walked toward the door, a couple of the students swiftly moved, and stood before the door, causing Emma to furrow her eyebrows. But she chose